


Pick Me Up

by Pembrooke330



Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Jeronica, One Shot, Riverdale AU, Veronica Lodge - Freeform, Vughead, bughead breakup, jughead - Freeform, jughead and veronica, jughead and veronica date, jughead jones - Freeform, veronica - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 09:19:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14951907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pembrooke330/pseuds/Pembrooke330
Summary: Veronica knew it was soon, probably too soon, but she was desperate to lay the groundwork with Jughead. She had no idea who might also be waiting in the wings to snatch him up now that he was single.She took a deep breath.“You can do this, Lodge…just…go…” She mumbled to herself.She smoothed out her hair and stuck out her chest, carrying herself with the classic Veronica posture she was always known to have as she walked up the steps to the front doors of Pop’s and went inside. Her heart felt like it was going to explode from how anxious she felt, but it was now or never.





	Pick Me Up

Veronica was trying to psyche herself up to go into Pop’s.

It was probably the one and only time that she was ever nervous to go grab a milkshake and a burger and just hang out.

The problem was, she’d never gone in there to take a seat across from Jughead Jones as he sat by himself, nursing a broken heart from his recent breakup from his first love, Betty Cooper.

But there was an opportunity to be had, and she wasn’t going to miss her shot by being a chicken shit.

Being nervous didn’t sit well with her. It was her kryptonite. And it angered her to no end that Jughead Jones was the one boy in all of Riverdale, hell, in all of North America that could make her hands sweat and her throat dry.

She’d had a crush on the dark haired loner ever since she’d moved to Riverdale a couple of months earlier. But he had been happily dating Betty. And Veronica wasn’t one to interfere in someone else’s relationship, even if the male half of the couple was the object of her affection. She had a firm belief that nothing good could come out of trying to create tragedy.

So she had decided to bide her time by getting to know Jughead’s best friend, Archie. And it had gone well.

She liked Archie enough. He was sweet and cute, popular and funny. Veronica had enjoyed her time with him, especially the double date nights with other couples at Pop’s.

But Archie wasn’t Jughead.

Jughead was subdued, sarcastic, mysterious, and charismatically temperamental. She constantly wondered what he was thinking, and when he actually shared his thoughts, she was always completely captivated by what he had to say. She was drawn to him like a moth to the flame, there was no denying it.

He'd always had a playful irritation with Veronica. They would spar with words whenever they were around each other. Cutting remarks and quick insults had become their thing when it came to their friendship, and Veronica couldn’t help but love the way he tried to one up her at every turn. There was something about the challenge of Jughead that thrilled her, and she found herself sneaking glances at him in the hallways at school, and in their history class together, praying she wasn’t being too obvious but unable to keep her eyes off of the guy that belonged to her friend, whom she envied completely.

Watching Betty and Jughead together always seemed to tear at her heart a little each time she was around them, but she kept up a stoic front, not ever letting on that she was beyond jealous of Betty. That she wondered what it would be like to have Jughead look at her the way he looked at the blonde beauty.

Veronica found herself wondering what it would feel like holding his hand while walking down the halls of Riverdale High, how it would feel to have his arms wrapped around her waist, how it would feel to have his lips on hers. Those incredible lips that she often found herself staring at whenever he spoke.

The thought made her heart pound wildly.

And now that she was no longer dating Archie, and Jughead was no longer dating Betty, Veronica couldn’t help but hope that maybe she could finally know what it would feel like to experience Jughead in all those ways that she had fantasized about at night as she lay in her bed.

Veronica knew it was soon, probably too soon, but she was desperate to lay the groundwork with Jughead. She had no idea who might also be waiting in the wings to snatch him up now that he was single.

She took a deep breath.

“You can do this, Lodge…just…go…” She mumbled to herself.

She smoothed her hair and straightened her back, carrying herself with the classic Veronica posture she was always known to have as she walked up the steps to the front doors of Pop’s and went inside.

Her heart felt like it was going to explode out of her chest from how anxious she felt, but it was now or never.

\---

Jughead sat at his favorite booth staring down at his half eaten burger. It wasn’t like him to not be hungry, but he couldn’t bear to eat another bite.

Going through a breakup sucked just as much as all the songs, and poems, plays, and books always said it was. His heart felt as though it had been ripped from his chest.

And it wasn’t just that Betty had broken up with him, it was how savagely she had done it.

She had texted him.

And what _really_ sucked was that he couldn’t bring himself to delete it. He had read it over and over.

_“Jug…I’m so sorry to do this and to do it this way…but I don’t think I could bear to see your face or hear your voice when I tell you that it’s over between us. We both knew this was coming and I think that I had to be the one to finally end it. I’m so sorry. I still care about you so much, and I always will. I hope we can be friends again someday, but for now I think we need to be apart and on our own. Thank you for everything. I still think you are one of the most amazing people I know.”_

Receiving the breakup text had been so brutal that he had wondered if, by chance, Mrs. Cooper hadn’t somehow managed to take Betty’s phone away and send the text instead.

He had wondered if it was just a terrible joke from Betty.

He even wondered if someone had stolen her phone and decided to play a cruel game with his emotions.

But it was none of that. Because when it really came down to it, he’d known Betty was going to breakup with him, and he’d known it would be sooner than later.

Things between them just hadn’t been going well for the past few weeks. They had barely seen each other lately. They were going in different directions in their lives. It was clear to them both that it was just a matter of time before one of them would break.

And deep down he knew that Betty would be the one to do the unpleasant deed.

Jughead just didn’t have it in him. He cared too much about Betty to ever not want to be with her. But he wasn’t given a choice, and he knew he had to accept it. All he wanted was for her to be happy, and he knew he was no longer what made her happy.

Cheerleading, prom committee, student council, yearbook staff; those were the things that Betty was more interested in lately, and it was obvious. He could see her eyes glazing over in boredom, a smirk of annoyance on her face whenever he talked about the latest issue of the Blue and Gold that he was the editor of. She didn’t care about hearing the most recent discussion going on in Philosophy club. And she certainly didn’t want to hear about what he was currently reading. Especially if his book of choice had anything to do with medieval torture devices or the Black Plague.

They just weren’t on the same wavelength anymore, and as much as he would be willing to stick it out, he knew it wasn’t fair to Betty if that wasn’t what she wanted too.

It was a hopeless situation, and he knew he would have to find some way to survive it.

Jughead was just about to get up and leave the diner to go sulk in the comfort of his own home, when the door to Pop’s chimed and in walked Veronica.

She looked right at him, giving him that crooked smile that she sometimes gave him when he saw her around school.

There was something about that smile that always warmed his heart. It was as if she was dropping her whole bold and resigned demeanor for just a moment to show him the true softness underneath her stoney surface. Almost as if he was getting a glimpse into who she really was; which was something he knew she didn’t let just _anyone_ see.

“Hey, mind if I join you?” She asked as she approached him.

Jughead held his hand out to the empty side of the booth across from him.

“Please do.”

Veronica took off her cape before sitting down, and Jughead couldn’t help noticing the tight fitting sweater with the plunging neckline matched with a short skirt that she was wearing underneath. He quickly looked away, but it was too late. Veronica was smiling slyly at him, noticing that he was noticing her.

“Don’t worry. I wore this _just_ for you, Jughead. Thought you could use a little pick-me-up.”

Jughead blushed, shaking his head.

“So you heard, huh?” He asked, as he let his eyes drift back over Veronica’s cleavage.

He felt awful about the way he was looking at her, but he couldn’t help but indulge in the distraction. And the fact that he was now allowed to appreciate the beauty of Veronica Lodge, without Betty sitting there nudging him hard in his ribs, gave him a sense of freedom that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Veronica nodded.

“Yeah, I don’t know how Cheryl found out so fast, but she was 'town crying' it all over school. I’m sorry, Jug.” Veronica said as she reached across the table and took one of his hands in hers.

Jughead felt a jolt when her fingers touched his, and he looked up at her with surprise in his eyes. He immediately could tell that she had felt it too by the way she was looking at him, her eyes wide, as if she hadn’t expected to feel the jolt either.

“Did it feel this bad when you and Archie broke up?” Jughead asked, not wanting to verbally acknowledge what he’d just felt.

He figured he was just desperate to climb out of the dumps he was in, and that the electricity he felt as Veronica held his hand didn’t have anything to do with the secret attraction he’d always harbored for her.

Veronica smiled.

“Not as much as it probably _should_ have. My thing with Archie was casual. We were both aware of that. But I _have_ had my heart broken before. I know how tough it is. And it will get better, Jughead. I promise.”

Jughead sighed.

“People break promises all the time, Veronica. Why should your promise be any different?” He asked as he took his hand away from hers and pushed his half eaten burger towards the middle of the table.

He sat with his head back against the booth, feeling defeated and not sure he wanted the company in the booth with him, no matter how beautiful and sexy the company was.

“Because I’m a Lodge, and my word is my bond. Plus, time has an incredible way of suturing our emotional wounds. And also…I’d like to…uh…help you through this.”

The hesitant way she said the last part forced Jughead’s eyes open. He looked at her curiously.

“ _Help_ me? You want to help me? How do you plan to do that exactly?”

Veronica smiled timidly.

“By…um…you know…maybe…” She paused as her cheeks flushed pink.

Jughead was beyond confused. This was a whole other side of Veronica he’d never seen before. Sweet and nervous, a version of Veronica Lodge he thought he could get used to. She was incredibly endearing all of a sudden.

“I was thinking…maybe…maybe we could…go out…like…on a date?”

Jughead was so floored by the suggestion, he couldn’t think of anything to say.

Veronica stared at him, the nervous smile fading into a look of total anxiousness. But he wasn’t completely convinced yet that she was serious.

“Let me just…let me get this straight…” He began.

The unease on Veronica’s face was almost shocking to him. He could see it in her eyes that she was beginning to wonder if she had made a huge mistake, and it was like a punch to his gut.

“Are you asking me out, Veronica?”

Veronica nodded, apprehensively.

Jughead crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. He couldn’t help but still be somewhat skeptical, partly wondering if someone hadn’t possibly put her up to this whole date thing.

“You’re not just fucking with me?”

Veronica shook her head, unable to hide the smile coming back to her lush lips.

“Forgive me for finding this _really_ odd, but it's really hard to believe that the rich and gorgeous Veronica Lodge wants to go out on a date with the weirdo loner, Jughead Jones.”

Veronica chuckled.

“Believe it.” She replied.

“Jughead, I know you are about as clueless as the next guy when it comes to your awareness of when a girl is into you, but believe me when I say that I have been _waiting_ for the day when you were no longer unavailable. I really like you, Jones. What can I say?”

Jughead could feel his heart beating rapidly as she gazed at him with those dark, brown eyes of hers. Eyes that he had looked into hundreds of times and saw something in them, but never wanting to actually admit to himself that the something was that she really _did_ have feelings for him.

Now that he knew for sure, he realized that he wasn’t as clueless as she thought he was.

Jughead grinned.

“You can say what time you want me to pick you up Friday night.” He replied smoothly, realizing that he was living a dream that nearly every guy at Riverdale High School had when it came to Veronica Lodge.

No matter how soon it was, there was no way he could pass up the opportunity to go out with the one girl that he felt had always understood him better than anyone else had. Even better than Betty, though he’d never wanted to admit it.

“Why don’t you take me home on your motorcycle and we can talk about it.” She replied as she got up from the booth and pulled on her cape.

Jughead quickly ate the last few bites of his burger, and as he walked out of Pop’s behind Veronica, he pulled out his phone.

He sighed as he deleted Betty’s text.

But when a hand reached out to take his, he smiled.

“Are you ready?” Veronica asked as she held his hand in hers for the second time that night.

The electricity between them was just as strong as it had been the first time.

Jughead nodded.

“I’m ready.”

 

The End.

 


End file.
